STONE SET STONE continues Li’s exploration of how materials and identities shift within hybrid cultural spaces, drawing on a formative memory of her first jewellery: a nephrite bangle.

Li abandons traditional metal settings by carving nephrite and sets gemstones into its forms. Nephrite as the symbolic vessel, embodying the complexities of cultural experience. This carving practice creates a visual contrast between the stones, highlighting their inherent coherence, inviting reflection on the interplay of personal identity within hybrid societies.

Informed by vernacular craftsmanship and contemporary philosophy, STONE SET STONE challenges fixed views of material, tradition, and selfhood. It reflects on how cultural traditions and personal experience shape belonging, positioning stones as sites where tensions and transformations converge.

“Hybrid is not a third term that resolves the tension between two cultures’ but rather one that holds the tension of the opposition and explores the spaces in- between fixed identities through their continuous reiterations.” —— Homi K. Bhabha, Third Space 1994: 113.